This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Identification tags are often used in conjunction with animals to identify the animal and/or to identify the animal's owner by name and address. Such identification tags are particularly useful in the event that the animal becomes lost to allow the animal to be identified and returned to the owner. Accordingly, identification tags are typically securely attached to a collar of an animal to ensure that the identification tag remains with the animal at all times.
Tags containing pest repellant are also often used in conjunction with animals in an effort to protect the animal from irritating and/or harmful bugs. For example, a tag may be impregnated with a chemical that repels fleas and/or ticks to prevent such bugs from irritating or harming the animal. Such tags may be fastened to a collar of the animal in a similar fashion as an identification tag such that the impregnated tag is disposed proximate to a neck of the animal.
Conventional collars typically include a metal loop or ring that receives a tag hanger that properly positions an identification tag and/or an impregnated tag relative to a neck of an animal. Such tag hangers may include a first portion supporting one or more tags and a second portion that attaches to the ring of the collar. In so doing, the tag hanger acts as an intermediary between a tag and a ring of a collar to attach the tag to the collar.
Conventional tag hangers typically include a main body having a first opening that is attached to a tag and a second opening that is attached to a ring of a collar. The respective openings typically include a latch mechanism that is movable from an open state to a closed state. When the latch mechanism is in the open state, the tag and the ring may be inserted into the respective openings of the tag hanger. Once the tag and the ring are inserted into the tag hanger, the latch mechanism may be moved into the closed state to prevent removal of the tag and the ring from the tag hanger. In this position, the tag is attached to the collar via the tag hanger and the ring to allow the tag to properly identify the animal and/or to provide the animal with a pest repellant.
Conventional tag hangers adequately support a tag relative to an animal. However, conventional tag hangers are typically cumbersome and heavy. For example, conventional latch mechanisms associated with tag hangers are typically made of metal to provide the tag hanger with at least one latch mechanism that may be repeatedly moved between a closed state and an open state without failing. As a result, conventional latch mechanisms and, thus, conventional tag hangers are somewhat cumbersome and heavy. Further, such latch mechanisms are typically biased into the closed state to prevent inadvertent removal of the tag from the tag hanger and to prevent inadvertent removal of the tag hanger from the ring of the collar. Biasing the latch mechanism into the closed state requires a biasing element such as a spring, which adds to the overall cost, complexity, and weight of the tag hanger. In short, while conventional tag hangers adequately support a tag relative to a collar of an animal, such tag hangers are typically heavy, costly, and unnecessarily complex.